Hate Is A Really Strong Word
by GreyKestrel
Summary: When Joanna Winters started her fourth year at Hogwarts she wasn't expecting to find herself in the middle of a war of wits against the infamous Weasley twins. Joanna is going to find out just how thin the line between friend and foe really is.
1. Five In The Morning

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

_Author Note:  
__First things first, this is my first ever published fanfiction so I'm kind of nervous about the reaction it's going to get. So, yeah, I hope it's a good reaction  
Now for some quick notes on the story. This fic is based on a character, created by myself, and what happens during her school year. It is written from her point of view and deals mainly with her interactions with the Weasley twins and her first year friend (another character created by me) Eric Zanders. I felt I needed to let people know all of this before they started reading so they didn't come in expecting one thing and then finding out it's something different. Anyway, for those of you who choose to read on, I hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter 1: Five In The Morning**

It was early.

It was so early that the sun hadn't even made its first appearance of the day and yet my alarm clock was buzzing persistently on my bedside table. With a groan I rolled over so I could reach the off button, hitting it harder than was probably necessary, and stop the noise before it woke my parents. My half open eyes lingered on the glowing red numbers as my brain tried to decipher what I was looking at. 5:01 flashed almost mockingly at me on the clocks display and I began wondering why my alarm had been set so early. It wasn't like I had any siblings who would get a kick out of changing my alarm time so I must have done it myself. Why I set that time was completely beyond my range of thought this soon after waking up.

Okay, lets take this one step at a time. I, Joanna Winters, am a fairly lazy person so why one earth would I set my alarm for five in the morning when...

Oh shit.

I sat up as suddenly as if I had been electrocuted, rubbing at my green eyes in an attempt to shake off my drowsiness. I'd finally remembered why I needed to be up so early and as I looked around my room I wondered why I didn't figure it out earlier, considering the evidence was scattered all across my floor. Today was the first day of Hogwarts for the year. Well, I don't know if you can really call it the first day considering you don't actually make it to school until nightfall but oh well. Anyway, back to why I was awakened so early.

As mentioned before I can be rather lazy and last night I had been to tired to pack my trunk and reasoned that I could just set my alarm a bit earlier and pack in the morning. It seemed like a good plan last night but just looking at all the school stuff left to pack and I wish I'd done some of it before now. I turned on the lamp that was sitting next to my alarm clock, the numbers now reading 5:05, and had to blink rapidly as the bright light flooded my room. Right, might as well start with finding all my books and then working from there…

--

A couple of hours later and I was finally finished. My books, parchment, ink, quills, Gryffindor robes, potion ingredients and all my other bits and pieces were packed away neatly. Well, it started off neat but towards the end I was just shoving things in wherever they would fit. Watching my silently through the whole thing, perched on the windowsill, was my owl Aquarius. Aquarius had been a present from my parents when I first started at Hogwarts and I had instantly fallen in love with the tan and white owl. Over the years we had grown pretty close and I could swear she'd adopted my sarcastic attitude. I closed the lid on my trunk and walked over to where the owl sat. From the way she was looking at me I could just tell she thought it was pretty stupid that I left things to the last minute, again.

"At least its done now," I told her while stroking her feathers. Aquarius just hooted softly before turning and scratching at the window with her talons. I frowned and glanced at the clock. There was still a while before I had to leave so I guess it wouldn't hurt to let her out for a bit. I opened the window so she could get outside.  

"Make sure you get back in an hour or so, I don't want to have to leave you behind," I told her. Another short hoot and she was gone, flying off into the early morning. 

"Joanna!" my mum called suddenly from the kitchen. "Joanna, come down and have some breakfast. You are awake arent you?" 

"I'm coming mum!" I called back. I propped my window open so Aquarius could get back in and walked down the hall into the kitchen. My mum had just finished serving up pancakes and strawberries and was now tidying up the kitchen.  

"Morning mum," I said as I sat down at the table, "This looks delicious!" 

"Thankyou sweetheart," she smiled, kissing my head as she walked past my seat. "Both your father and I have to go in early for work so make sure you don't dawdle while you're getting ready," she informed me as she placed the last of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.  

"Does that mean dad's taking me to the station?" I asked, already half way through my food. "That would be right because I need to be gone in," she checked her watch, "ten minutes. Gosh, I need to go get ready." As my mum was leaving the kitchen my dad made his first appearance of the day, walking into the kitchen already dressed in his Ministry robes. 

"Morning Cassandra," he said, giving my mother a kiss on the cheek as he passed her. "Joanna," he stated, nodding in my direction as he sat down in the seat across from mine. 

"Morning dad," I replied. I quickly ate the last of my breakfast and stood up, walking towards the dishwasher with my dirty plate in hand. 

"Jo, can you make sure you're ready in an hour? I need to be leaving then if I'm going to have time to drop you off and then get to work on time," My dad said, picking up a copy of the Daily Prophet that had been delivered earlier in the morning. 

"Sure thing dad," I said. I put my plate away and hurried down the hall, bumping into to my mum just as she was leaving for work. 

"Oh, I'm going to miss you sweetheart!" she said as she pulled me into a hug. "Make sure you try your best in class and stay out of trouble. I want you to write to us as much as possible, you know your father and I love to hear from you." 

I hugged my mum back and made sure to stop her rambling goodbye before she got to emotional.

"I promise I'll write, keep out of trouble and try my best in class," I assured her, "Now hurry up or you're going to be late." 

"Oh, you're right," she exclaimed as I pushed her towards the door. 

"The coffee shop isn't going to open itself," I laughed. 

She pulled me in for another hug and kissed my cheek before rushing out the door. 

"Bye Jo!" 

"Bye mum!" I called back as she hopped in the car and drove off out of sight. A smile was still lingering on my face when I glanced at the clock on a nearby wall and realized I would have to hurry up if I was going to meet my dad's schedule. As I began heading back to my bedroom I caught sight of myself I the bathroom mirror. God, my hair was a mess but I shouldn't have been surprised, my hair was always a mess when I woke up. 

Deciding I might as well get my grooming for the day out of the way I stepped into the bathroom and picked up a brush off the counter. I ran it through my short, brown hair a couple of times until I was happy with how it was sitting. I then washed my face, brushed my teeth and put in my silver hoop earrings. I was ready to go, well, almost. First I was going to have to change out of my pajamas.

--

There was about an hour and ten minutes left before the Hogwarts Express was due to depart when my dad and I apparated into a concealed alleyway near Kings Cross Station. I let go of my trunks handle and it thumped loudly on the concrete as my dad disappeared into the station to find a trolley for all of my luggage. I carefully placed Aquarius, now locked up securely in her cage, on the ground along with my broom, a Nimbus 2000. The broom had been another present from my parents last year when they found out I had been filling in for the Gryffindor Quidditch team when they were short a player. I guess that's one of the benefits of being an only child, your parents tend to spoil you a bit. 

While I waited for my dad to return I opened my trunk and began fishing through it in search of my wand. By the time I found it the contents of my trunk had been severely messed up. So much for my half neat packing, that will teach me for putting my wand at the bottom. I placed the piece of wood in my back pocket, 11 inches long, made from oak with a dragon heartstring. It had only taken me five minutes in Ollivander's before I found my wand, a feat I was rather proud of. 

I was just closing my trunk back up when my dad walked up with one of the stations trolleys and helped lift all my belongings onto it. Then, being the nice guy that he is, pushed the trolley all the way to the station for me. This left me to count how many people stopped and openly stared at the funnily dressed man with a teenage girl and an owl walking along the platform. I got to twenty-six before we reached the brick wall that separated the wizarding world from the muggles and followed my dad as he walked straight through it. 

I sighed happily as the large steam train came into view. There were hardly any other students around so early before the train departed so I pretty much had a pick of any compartment I wanted on the train. I chose a one towards the end of the train and loaded my luggage into the overhead racks. After everything was secured I headed back to the platform where my dad was waiting to wish me off. 

"Goodbye Jo," he said pulling me into a hug just like my mum had before she left. "Fourth year already, I can't believe it. Look after yourself and make sure to write. I don't think I've ever seen a muggle more happy to see an owl fly through the kitchen window than your mother." 

I laughed as he ruffled my hair fondly and told him I had already promised mum I would write. He smiled, "That's my girl. Oh, another thing before you leave. I want you to be very careful this year, especially if you decide to go down to Hogsmeade. You've read about Sirius Black's escape and I just want you to be safe," he said seriously, "But on a lighter note, have fun and enjoy the year. You're coming back for Christmas are you not?" 

"I should be," I said, "It really depends but I promise to let you know well in advance if I'm coming home or not." 

"Michael Winters?" someone yelled across the platform, "I haven't seen you in ages! How's everything going?" 

"Fantastic Conner," my dad yelled back before turning to me again. "Have fun, take care and write often." Then with a kiss on the forehead and another quick hug he was gone, off to talk to the wizard Conner.  By now the platform had become quite crowded with parents and students alike rushing about the place. Not wanting to linger on the platform with the growing crowd of people I started walking back to the train, passing a number of 'Sirius Black: Wanted' posters as I went. 

I took my time and made it back to my compartment with about twenty minutes left until the train was due to leave. The compartments around me were filling up with excited students and I reasoned it was only a matter of time before someone asked if they could sit down. I sat quietly for about five minutes tapping my fingers on my knee to pass the time but that got boring very quickly. With nothing better to do I stood up on my seat so I could reach one had into my trunk and feel around blindly for the book I had brought along. I finally found it and pulled the novel out of my trunk before sitting back down. 

I opened the book to the page where I had left off and began reading. I picked up my love of reading from my mother who was an avid reader herself. The book I was currently reading was a horror story that she had particularly liked and recommended I read it. She was right, so far it had been fantastic but also one of the scariest things I had ever read. 

It was almost time to leave. I could tell because out of the corner of my eye I could see parents saying their last goodbyes before the train left, shooing their children into the carriages. I wasn't paying much attention though, instead I was caught up in my book and the sudden scary turn of events the main character was facing. 

"Hey."

The voice nearly made me jump a foot in the air and I snapped my head around to face the sound so fast that I think I gave myself whiplash. At least I didn't scream, that would have been embarrassing. Standing in the doorway of my compartment were two identical read haired boys. Fred and George Weasley if I recalled correctly, they were in my house but a year level above me. 

"Good god!" I half screeched, my heart pounding so fast from my scare I was surprised it didn't just die on me there. Serves me right for reading a horror novel around people. 

"Fred Weasley actually, but I can see how you would get us mixed up," chuckled the twin closer to me. The other twin, George, burst out laughing along with another dreadlock haired boy who I hadn't noticed at first because he was hidden behind Fred. I scowled slightly. I hated being the butt of a joke. 

"So anyway," Fred said once George and the other boy, who I now recalled as Lee Jordan the Quidditch announcer, had stopped laughing, "I'm Fred, this is George, that's Lee and we were wondering if you mind us sitting in here." He pointed to each person respectively as he named him. 

"Sure, whatever," I muttered as the train lurched to a start.  "Thanks," George said as the three of them dragged their trunks in and began placing them up in the luggage racks.  I turned back to my book as the three boys sat down. George, at least I think it was George, sat next to me leaving Fred and Lee to sit across from us. The trio began talking animatedly about what they did on the break from Hogwarts and what kind of tricks they had been planning for the new school year. I tuned the noise out as best I could and continued reading, praying the trip would go fast.


	2. Purple and Orange

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

**Chapter 2: Purple And Orange**

I guessed we were about an hour into the train trip. I wasn't exactly sure seeing as my watch was buried somewhere in my trunk and I didn't feel like going through all the trouble of getting just to know the time. In that hour though I had buried my nose in my book and made a lot of reading progress. While I was reading the twins and their friend had planned at least two pranks that would be happening in the Gryffindor common room sometime that night and five or six people had dropped in to say hello. Dropped in to say hello to the twins or Lee in case you were wondering.  I have never really been a social butterfly, more like a social spider. Everyone prefers a butterfly to a spider. It didn't bother me much though. I've always preferred my own company to that of others, maybe because I was an only child. Still I'd have hoped at least one of my few friends would have dropped by. It was becoming rather obvious that I wasn't very popular among the school community, then again I never tried or wanted to be. 

At the moment I was mulling over the reason why I had never really gotten to know the Weasley twins or Lee. I had filled in when our Quidditch team was a player short, not to mention we were in the same house, but for three years I'd been at school we'd just seemed to never come in contact with each other. Probably because I'm never in the common room when everyone else is, I know that's how a lot of the Gryffindors get to know each other. This thinking period of mine was disrupted when I felt someone poke me in the shoulder. 

"I know where I've seen you before," George said as I looked up from my book, "you're that girl who fills in during Quidditch for us." 

"Hey you are!" Fred exclaimed, "Jay...Jemma..J-"  I saved him the trouble of rambling on any longer.

"Joanna Winters. Fourth year student." 

"That's it," Fred grinned before they went back to their conversation about what brand of stink bombs worked best. Looks like talking-to-that-other-person-in-the-compartment-time was over. All I can say was I was really glad when the sliding door of the compartment opened and a soft voice called out. 

"Hello Joanna, how are you today?"  I looked up to see a long, blond haired girl standing in the doorway, a bundle of school robes clutched in her arms.

"Hey Luna," I replied, smiling at the girl. She was two years younger than me and in Ravenclaw but ever since I hexed some idiot who was annoying her on the second day of school last year we had become rather close friends. I had a habit of befriending the oddest people. 

"I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to change into our school robes, before everyone else also decides too?" Luna was facing my general direction but I had a feeling she was actually staring at something out of the window behind me. 

"Sure Luna," I said, putting my book down on the seat before reaching up and fumbling around in my trunk for my robes. I would be happy to leave the small stuffy compartment and the three boys in it. Maybe I'd find some of my other friends while we were walking around the train. Finally I found my robes, much faster that I would have expected, and pulled them out. The boys had quieted down watching as I left. 

"Okay, let's go," I said once I had closed the compartment door and quickly followed Luna out into the corridor. "So, how was your break?" I asked Luna politely. 

"Oh I enjoyed it very much," she said as we started walking to the small bathroom, "I went Angargrious hunting in the yard, it's quite difficult actually." 

"Angargi-what?" 

"Angargrious. Little creatures that people accidentally swallow which then makes them grumpy and nasty until they are able to cough it back up," she said as though I should know what these things are. 

"Oh, of course. Continue please," I said as she continued on about the appropriate way to catch the Angragai… Anagro… whatever. 

--

After changing we spent some time wandering around the train corridors, bumping into familiar faces here and there. We stopped at one compartment so I could catch up with Katie Bell, another acquaintance of mine. While we were there, chatting about the up coming school year, the lunch trolley rolled around. After everyone had brought something to eat we continued on with our discussion of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. 

"Are you still filling in this year?" Katie asked while searching through a box of every flavor beans. 

"If Wood still let's me," I replied. 

Katie laughed, "Of course he would, you're defiantly a good player and you work well with the rest of the team." 

"Well I'm not going to argue with that," I smiled, "Anyway, Luna and I should get going." 

"I'll see you later then," Katie replied.  Just as Luna and I stood up and were about to leave Katie's compartment we were thrown back onto the seats as the train came to an abrupt stop. 

"That hasn't happened before," Luna pointed out. 

"We're not there already are we?" I asked trying to peer out the window but not having much luck seeing through the thick rain that was bucketing down outside. When had that started? 

"No, we still have just over an hour before we reach Hogsmeade Station," Katie confirmed for me. That was when the lights flickered and went out. 

"My word," Luna breathed, as it suddenly got much colder in the train.  

"Did someone leave a window open," I joked quietly but nobody laughed. For some reason nothing seemed happy anymore, I could only dwell on everything that had gone wrong in my life, everything that had ever made me sad. I wonder if this feeling is what makes people suicidal. Gosh, I needed to get a grip on myself. Then, as quickly as it had come the lights flickered back into life and the cold disappeared. The train gave a lurch and suddenly we were moving again. 

"That was just weird," Katie said, one of her friends in the compartment nodding in agreement. 

"Tell me about it," I replied, still trying to shake off the odd feeling. That had to be the Dementors my father had been telling me about. Apparently they were being placed around the school by the Ministry to prevent Sirius Black from getting in, nothing was mentioned about them searching the train though. I have to admit some warning would have been nice before I had all the happiness sucked out of me. 

"Let's go Luna," I said and we left the compartment quietly. I dropped Luna off at her compartment where another Ravenclaw girl sat along with a small kid I had never seen before. It was probably a first year. The poor thing looked like he was about to pass out and I wouldn't blame him if he just had the same Dementor experience we had. 

"Are you going to go back to your compartment or are you going to sit with us for the rest of the trip?" Luna asked sitting down next to the other Ravenclaw and pulling a magazine out of her pocket. 

"I'll just go get my stuff and come join you," I said and she nodded absentmindedly, eyes fixed on the magazine in her hands. I hurried down the corridor and back to my compartment. From what I could see Fred, well I assume it was still Fred unless he and George switched places since I left, was talking quietly to Lee, again, and George had his face hidden behind my book. He'd obviously picked it up while I was gone. 

I opened the door and stepped into the compartment, unaware that I was about to become the victim of a very un-funny prank. Well, un-funny for me. 

The balloon dropped onto my head and burst, sending a cascade of purple and orange slime down my face and hair. I froze, too startled to do anything as the others burst out laughing. Great, just what I needed. With a scowl I wiped off the slime that was falling into my eyes and pulled Aquarius down from the luggage rack along with my trunk, not caring when the heavy piece of luggage 'accidentally' hit Fred hard on the knee as I dragged it out of the compartment. As I passed George I snatched my book out of his hands and made sure to slam the door as forcefully as I could. In my anger I hadn't seen, or heard, one of the twins cast a spell as I left which would be something I would regret later on. I could still hear them laughing, not only at me now but also Fred who was clutching his knee, as I stalked down the corridor. 

When I reached Luna's compartment she looked up, slightly startled by my loud entry. The first year boy looked like he might start laughing but thought twice about it when I turned my glare on him. I closed the door and sat down next to the first year, whipping out my wand and trying to decide on the best approach to cleaning up the mess of slime sliding down my hair. After a moment I muttered a spell and the slime disappeared. I sighed in relief. 

"Does that look better?" I asked. I got no response, they all just stared at me until the first year boy spoke up.

"You hair is still purple and orange." 

"What!" I yelled, taking the mirror Luna's Ravenclaw friend, who I later learned was called Stephanie, handed me wordlessly. He was right, the slime was gone but my hair was now purple and orange. I spent the rest of the trip trying unsuccessfully to return my hair to it's normal brown. When we reached Hogsmeade station I ended up just pulling my robe's hood up over my head to hide my hair. I would have to figure out how to get rid of the color later that night. As I climbed into one of the invisible horse drawn carriages with Luna and Stephanie, the first year had left to find Hagrid, I noticed Fred, George and Lee climbing into the carriage that stood behind ours. They were laughing again, no doubt at me, and I sunk down further into the seat as Luna and Stephanie gave me sympathetic looks.


	3. Of Drowned Rats

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

_Author Note:  
__This chapter is for __Adelynne__ as a thanks for being my only reviewer so far. Hope you enjoy._

**Chapter 3: Of Drowned Rats**

The carriage ride was long and made in silence aside from a few whispered comments between Luna and Stephanie. I was too busy with my own thoughts to really bother with anything happening around me. I must have looked like, and still look for that matter, a total idiot. How embarrassing. I could only hope that something funnier or more dramatic than me getting covered in slime happened or I would be a topic of conversation for the rest of the night and I so did not need that. 

I was jerked out of my thoughts when the carriage came to a stop outside the doors of the Entrance Hall and was the last out of our carriage, exiting after Luna. 

"I'll see you tomorrow," I told Luna as her and Stephanie hurried off towards the castle to get out of the rain that was still falling, though not as hard as it had been before. I took my time walking up the stairs to the Entrance Hall, pushing off my robe hood and letting the rain soak my hair. It was only as I reached the door of the hall that I could hear the squeals and pattering of feet as people ran around inside. Great, what was happening now? 

I took a few steps into the Entrance Hall and quickly found the source of the commotion. Peeves was hovering above the heads of the many students in the Entrance Hall throwing water bombs. Like we weren't wet enough from the rain already.  

"Peeves! Yer bloody ghost get out, get out!" yelled Filch as he ambled into the hall, Mrs. Norris padding along silently behind him. As usual Peeves ignored any person of authority and continued to cause havoc among the students below. I glanced around, noticing a group of second year Hufflepuff girls clinging together just inside of the doors. Here we go again, Joanna Winters, savior of scared second years to the rescue. 

I walked over to them quickly, having to dodge a few water bombs as I went. "Hey guys," I said, gathering them around me while keeping one eye of Peeves' antics, "Why are we all just standing around?" 

"We don't want to get wet," one said. 

"It will ruin my hair!" another one exclaimed, a few of the others in the group muttering agreements. By now I just felt like leaving them there and letting Peeves throw whatever he wanted at them but I was too nice to do that, unfortunately.  

"Well I'll give you a little tip," I said, "See that hall over there? Walk down it until you see the tapestry of the two dragons, then, push it aside and take the staircase hidden behind it. That will take you pretty much to right outside the Great Hall and you get to avoid Peeves, got it?" 

The small group nodded and hurried off in the direction I pointed them in. I looked around once again just to make sure that there were no more students in dire need of help. From what I could see all the other students were willing to run across the wet floor of the entrance hall. The teachers weren't going to be happy about this. Not wanting to stick around any longer I decided on the secret passage route as well, it would be easier than trying to dodge Peeves' water bombs.  I took one step forward and, being the klutz I am once in a while, slipped on a particularly wet part of the floor and fell backwards. My hands shot out behind me to take most of the falls impact but it still hurt. Mental note to self, remember wet floors are slippery. 

I was glad to know I wasn't the only one to fall over. While I was sitting on the wet floor I saw another person slip and fall flat on their face. I couldn't help but laugh quietly at that. I know it sounds mean but having fallen over myself I think I had a right to laugh at anyone else who did.  

"That's not very nice, laughing like that," someone said from beside me. I glanced up and came face to face with one of the twins. 

"Oh, it's you," was about the politest thing I could say at the present time. 

"Play nice, I came over to ask if you needed any help. So, do you need any help?" the twin said. 

"No, I was about to get up myself Fred, or George, whichever one you are," I said. I know I was being nasty but hey, I was holding a grudge. 

"George," he supplied for me before grasping my hands in his and pulling me up to my feet, unintentionally aggravating an injury I didn't even realize I had. 

"Ouch!" I yelped, pulling my hands away from his and cradling my right wrist against my chest.  "I didn't do that did I?" George asked. 

"No," I sighed, "I must have done it when I fell." 

"Oh, looks like you're having an unlucky day then," he replied, a smirk creeping across his face. 

"No thanks to you," was my reply. 

"We try," he shrugged, smirk still in place. I swear I would have punched him if I hadn't hurt my wrist, that and I also saw a teacher coming down the stairs to the Entrance Hall to see what was keeping everyone.  

"I guess I'll be off to the Hospital Wing then," I said coolly, turning and walking towards said Hospital Wing. I stopped when he called out after me. 

"Hey, Winters." I considered not stopping but in the end I turned around to face him. "I like your hair, purple and orange really brings out your eyes." 

It was quite obvious he was just enjoying messing with me now. Like I needed the fact that I looked like a drowned multicolored rat pointed out to me. I didn't bother responding that time and just continued on my way down to the Hospital Wing.

--

By the time I had made it down to the Hospital Wing my wrist had started to swell up and I realized I must have fallen on it harder than I thought. When I looked around the Hospital Wing I was surprised to see a number of other students sitting around with various injuries. It was then that Madam Pomfrey hurried over to assess the damage done to me. 

She sat me down on a chair next to another kid who was holding some ice against his head and began poking and prodding at my swollen wrist, causing me to hiss in pain as she touched a rather tender spot. 

"Well I don't think it's broken," Madam Pomfrey said, "can you wriggle your fingers for me?" I did as she asked and though it hurt the pain wasn't unbearable. 

"Good. Now I'll just go get something to fix that up, don't go anywhere," she said and bustled off in search of whatever she needed. 

While she was gone I turned my head to take a look at the boy next to me. I recognized him from my year level, he was in Ravenclaw though. I smiled politely and he smiled back. 

"Slip on the floor too?" he asked. 

"Yeah," I laughed, "fell on my wrist a little too hard. What about you?" 

"Hit my head on the stairs," he said, moving the ice and revealing a decent sized lump on his forehead. 

I cringed slightly, "That must have hurt." 

He didn't have a chance to reply because Madam Pomfrey was back to heal my wrist. I sat quietly as she applied an ointment, flinching every now and then when she moved my wrist to get better access to the injury. After a couple of minutes of sitting quietly with my ointment covered wrist Madam Pomfrey instructed me to wash it off and head up to the feast, my wrist would be back to normal by tomorrow.

She then turned to the boy next to me, "Now let's see what you've done young man." 

--

I was lucky that they were still sorting the first years when I got to the great hall because I was able to slip into a seat down at the end of the Gryffindor table without being noticed. I wasn't the only one trying to go unnoticed, a Hufflepuff girl entered the hall not long after I did, hurrying over to her own house table before anyone saw. Most likely back from the hospital wing too.

 "Zanders, Eric," professor McGonagall called, voice ringing out over the almost silent hall. The only unsorted first year walked up to the stool sitting in front of the teacher's table. I was surprised to find I recognized him. It was the same kid who was sharing a compartment with Luna on the train. Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on his head and for a few seconds the hall was totally silent. 

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted and I, along with all the other Gryffindors at the table, applauded loudly. Eric hurried down off the stool and sat down next to me at the end of the table. 

"Congratulations," I said, turning and smiling at him. 

"Thanks," he said beaming back at me.  We were both silenced as Dumbledore stood up to welcome everyone back and announce the beginning of the feast. He left the important speech until later as always. Eric and I both began loading our plates as soon as the food had appeared and continued on talking. 

"I don't think I caught your name," he said after swallowing a piece of chicken and stabbing at a potato with his fork. 

"Joanna Winters but Jo is fine," I replied. 

"Cool, I'm-" 

"Eric, I know. I head Professor McGonagall call you up," I said with a small smile. 

"Oh yeah," he laughed. "Anyway, what exactly happened to your hair?" He glanced at me cautiously out of the corner of his eye, probably checking to make sure I didn't start yelling at him for bringing it up. 

"Fred and George Weasley happened to it," I said, snorting disdainfully.  

"What?" he said, face creasing in confusion. 

"Take a look down the table," I said, not taking my eyes off my food. "Do you see the bunch of red heads?" 

"Yes." 

"Look for the twins. Fred and George Weasley with a reputation for being the biggest pranksters in the school. Unfortunately I was sharing a compartment with them on the train here." 

"What about your hand?" 

I glanced down at my hand and noticed it was still a little swollen and purple. Observant kid. "Peeves." 

"Wh-" 

"School's resident poltergeist," I said, cutting him off mid question. 

"Oh." 

Eric and I spent the rest of the feast talking about our families and us. I learnt, for example, that Eric was a half blood like me except it was his mother who was the magical one in the family. He also told me about how his mother had been a Ravenclaw at school but she had said he probably wouldn't take after her and end up in the house of the thinkers; he was to outgoing and adventurous. 

Once the feast was over and Dumbledore had given his speech the hall became a mass of noise as talking broke out and people slowly began to shuffle out of the hall. Instead of going along with the Prefects and the other first years Eric asked if he could walk up to the Gryffindor tower with me so, after getting the password from another Gryffindor student, we left with all the older kids. 

Once out in the hallway I pulled Eric behind a tapestry hanging on the wall, revealing one of the many secret, and faster, ways up to the seventh floor. 

"Wow," Eric exclaimed as we walked up the hidden spiraling staircase that lead up to a secluded part of the seventh floor. I could hear a few other Gryffindors further up the staircase chatting as Eric and I walked in silence. I think he was still in awe of the whole 'secret passage' thing. I have to admit when I was a first year it was pretty amazing too. 

When we finally made it to the seventh floor (a seven story staircase does take a while to climb) I expertly lead the way down the corridors that I had memorized so well. Actually, it took a lot of trial and error to memorize them but the main thing was that I now knew them like the back of my hand almost. 

Upon making it to the Fat Lady's portrait I found there was no need for the password as there was already a group of Gryffindors filling through the hole in the wall one by one. Eric and I joined the back of the group and after clambering into the common room and pointing him towards the boys dormitories I was finally able to head off to bed for a bit of well deserved sleep.


	4. Sunday Mornings

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

**Chapter 4: Sunday Mornings**

I'd woken up fairly early the next morning and left my dormitory quietly, trying not to disturb the three other girls in the room still sleeping soundly. I pulled my dressing gown over my pajamas as I padded barefoot down the spiraling stairs and into the Gryffindor common room. As I had guessed there was no one else around and I had free reign of the common room until people started waking up. This was just one of the things I loved about Hogwarts, the peaceful mornings. At home there was no such thing as the quiet of early morning, my parents were always up really early.  

I walked slowly over to one of the more comfortable chairs, soaking up the scenery as I walked. I flopped down into the chair and put my feet up on the coffee table in front of it. It felt good to be back at school once again and seeing as school had commenced on a Saturday this year we had all of Sunday to do what we wanted before classes started. Speaking of classes, Professor McGonagall had mentioned to the Gryffindors last night during the feast that she would be handing out timetables today at breakfast and I wondered if it was to early to head down to the Great Hall. 

"Jo? Is that you?" 

I sat up from my slouched position in the chair and glanced over the dormitory stairs where I saw Eric dressed and wide-awake. 

"Morning Eric," I said beckoning him to sit down in the chair across from mine. "How does it feel to finally be at Hogwarts?" I asked having to stifle a yawn half way through my question as he sat in the chair. 

"Bloody fantastic!" he exclaimed, practically bouncing off the chair he had just sat down in with excitement only second to that of Colin Creevy whenever he sees Harry. "There's so much I want to see, my mum told me so many stories about when she was in school. Do you think you could show me around? I want to see everything!" 

"Everything huh?" I chuckled, "Sure, I'll show you around as long as we go get breakfast first. Oh, and you're also going to have to give me a minute to get dressed, I rather not wander around the school in my PJ's." 

He nodded as I stood up and began walking up the girls' dormitory stairs. 

"Don't leave without me," I called down the stairs as I jogged up to my dormitory and stepped in to quickly change into some casual clothes.  

After making sure I looked somewhat acceptable for a Sunday morning, my hair was still orange and purple but I couldn't be bothered trying to fix it, I hurried back down to the common room which was now slowly filling with a few other early risers. Two of these people just happened to be the Weasley twins and they had taken up posts on either side of Eric, whispering quietly to him. 

"Eric," I called walking over to the portrait hole, "Let's go." As I waited for him to make his way over to the portrait hole I caught sight of the twins staring at me, each with a devious smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and pushed open the portrait, climbing out with Eric close behind me. Once the portrait was closed he started speaking. 

"I have a message for you," he said as we began walking down to the Great Hall. 

"Oh really," I replied not really enthusiastic about what I was probably about to hear. "Go on." 

"The twins, Fred and George, said that they can change your hair back but they have conditions" 

"That would be right," I grumbled and I swore I saw Eric grin slightly. Those Weasley twins better not try and corrupt my new friend. 

"You need to apologize for hitting Fred with your trunk and George wouldn't mind finishing your book. They said that only then would they change your hair back." 

"I don't suppose they would do it just out of the goodness of their hearts?" I asked somewhat sarcastically. Mental note, find a way to change hair back to normal because I don't want to have to grovel at the feet of the twins. I wonder if Hermione would know a spell to get rid of the color, I'd have to ask her. 

"No, sorry. Oh, and George said you look hot when you're angry and Fred says you can stop playing hard to get because it's obvious you like them."  

I gave a very un-lady like snort as we walked into the Great hall and sat down at the almost empty Gryffindor table and began pilling various breakfast foods onto my plate. If there was one thing Eric and I had in common it was out love of food. 

"What's that got to do with anything, did they tell you to say that too?" 

"Yup, said to make sure you got the message. Mind you they were laughing pretty hard over it," Eric explained. Our conversation was interrupted when Professor McGonagall approached us with a large number of timetables in her hands.  

"Zanders and Winters" She said handing each of us our timetables but stopped short when she caught sight of me. "Miss Winters what on earth have you done to your hair?" she asked. 

"Technically professor I didn't do anything," I replied, taking the timetable she handed to me. 

"Oh, well make sure you get rid of it as soon as possible," she said before bustling off to some people further up the table to hand out more timetables. I took a quick glance at my classes and slipped the piece of parchment into my pocket. Eric on the other hand was studding his classes intently. I forgot how interesting everything was when you were a first year.

I was about to take a bite out of my toast when someone else interrupted me. This time it was a fellow student. 

"Jo! There you are," Oliver Wood said as he sat down across from Eric and I. "I've been looking all over for you, the Weasley twins mentioned you might have come down here." 

I gave a noncommittal "Hmmm," and waited for him to continue. 

"Anyway, I'm not sure if you heard but Katie managed to give herself a pretty hard knock on the head right before school started and her parents, being muggles, sent a letter to McGonagall stating that she's not to play Quidditch for at least the first two weeks of school meaning-

"Meaning that she'll miss the first game of the season," I finished his ramblings for him, "I know, she told me all about it on the train." 

"Always know what's going on don't you," he grinned.

I smiled back, "I take it you want me to fill in while she can't play then?" 

"If you wouldn't mind of course. Thing is you're one of the best flyers in Gryffindor and I prefer having you over someone else, hell, you'd make the team easily if you ever bothered to try out," he said. 

I laughed lightly. Sure I was a fairly good flyer but there were still a few Gryffindors who were much better than me, most of them already a part of the Quidditch team. I liked my role as permanent stand in anyway, I'd seen the way Wood worked that team sometimes and definitely didn't envy them when they were training in the middle of a thunderstorm. 

"Sure, I'm in," I said noticing that Eric had tuned into the conversation. 

"Fantastic," Wood said getting up from the table. "We have practice four o'clock Tuesday afternoon, don't be late." 

I mock saluted him. "I'll be there." 

"Good. Oh, and what happened to your hair?" 

"Don't get me started"


	5. Upside Down

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

_Author Note:  
__Here is chapter five, enjoy. Also I'd like to thank __N.I London__ for their review and kind comments._

**Chapter 5: Upside Down**

After breakfast I offered to show Eric where all his classrooms were so he wouldn't be bumbling around the castle this time tomorrow morning. We finished breakfast quickly and made our way out of the Great Hall where Eric brought Quidditch back into the conversation. 

"So you play for the house Quidditch team? That is so cool!" he exclaimed. 

"Technically I'm only a fill in for whenever someone from our regular team can't play. I usually only play twice a year, three times if we're having a pretty bad season injury wise," I explained while I studied his timetable. I was trying to wok out the fastest way to his Transfiguration classroom. 

"Who teaches Transfiguration?" he asked as I walked towards a staircase just outside the Great Hall. 

"Professor McGonagall," I answered as we reached the top of the stairs and turned left. "Make sure you're paying attention to where I'm going, this will be the easiest way to get to class tomorrow morning, being early on your first day will make a good impression too." 

Eric nodded as he took in the information I was telling him. I took another left and we found ourselves in the Trophy Room. I kept walking and it took me a moment to realize Eric wasn't walking beside me any more. I turned around to find him standing in the doorway of the room looking at all the trophies in awe. 

"Wow, this room is huge!" he said walking over the nearest trophy case and reading whatever was inside. I was about to make a comment on time wasting and the easy amusement of first years when I head the sounds of people walking up the hallway we had just come out of. 

"This'll teach ya for fighting in the halls, by the time your detention's finished those trophies will be sparkling!" Filch's voice carried down the hall. I grabbed Eric by the arm and pulled him towards the other exit. 

"Time to go," I said, pretty much dragging Eric out of the Trophy Room behind me. Detention already? Poor buggers. 

"Who was that?" he asked once I had deemed us far enough away to start walking at a normal pace again. 

"Filch, school caretaker, he hates students and probably would have given us a detention for some reason or other," I started explaining. 

"So that's why you wanted to get out of there," he said. 

"That and the Trophy Room is really boring."

--

For the rest of the morning I showed Eric where all his indoor classes were before it was time for us to go back to the Great Hall for lunch. During lunch Eric had made me promise to show him around the school grounds and that was we were doing now. 

The first thing I had sown him was the Quidditch pitch but we had to make a hasty exit after the Slytherin team arrived to practice. After that I showed him the lake and told him about the Giant Squid. After having watched the Giant Squid for long enough we were now on our way down to Hagrid's hut so I could introduce Eric to the friendly groundskeeper. 

"So is it true he's a half giant?" Eric asked, as we started down the path that lead to Hagrid's hut, "I heard one of the other first years say it when he showed us to the boats." 

"Yes, it's true," I replied, glancing down the path and seeing two people walking towards us. They were easy to recognize even from this distance. 

"Hi Harry, Ron," I greeted as we met up on the path. 

"Hi Jo," they both replied. Though I didn't have very many close friends I had a lot of acquaintances, especially in Gryffindor. 

"You wouldn't happen to be Harry as in Harry Potter would you?" Eric suddenly piped up from my side. Harry and Ron both looked at him, apparently not noticing him until he spoke. 

"Uh, yeah, I'm that Harry," Harry said as Ron tried not to laugh. 

"Hi, I'm Eric Zanders," Eric said while holding out his hand for Harry to shake, "I've heard all about you, I mean, who hasn't?" 

"Uh thanks?" Harry said as he took Eric's hand. By now I too was smiling slightly at what was happening. "Anyway," Harry said, trying to regain his composure, "I heard you'll be filling in for Katie in Gryffindors first match Jo." 

"Word gets around fast here," I laughed, "Wood only told me this morning at breakfast." 

"Hey Jo, what happened to your hair?" Ron asked suddenly, obviously he'd just noticed it's strange colouring. 

"Ron that's not exactly polite-" 

"You're brothers happened to it," I said, cutting Harry off mid sentence. "Speaking of which, where's Hermione? I need to see if she has any idea how to get rid of it." 

"Uh, I think she said something about having to see professor McGonagall," Harry answered, seeing as Ron was now busy being bombarded by questions from Eric. 

"Damn, I'll have to talk to her in the common room tonight," I sighed before changing the topic of conversation. "Is Hagrid in his hut? I was thinking of taking Eric down to meet him." 

"No, we were just there and as we were leaving he said something about tomorrows classes and finding Buckbeak before walking off into the forest," Harry explained with a slight frown, "I just hope whatever he has planned is safe, Malfoy's in our class and if anyone so much as goes to Madam Pomfrey with a scratch he'll be all over it. With his father in the ministry position he is they could damn well get Hagrid fired." 

"Bloody creep Malfoy is, I bet if Hagrid did even the slightest thing wrong he'd jump on the opportunity!" I sighed. After this Harry and Ron had offered to walk back with Eric and I to the castle. I kindly accepted and as we trudged back to the castle the conversation once again became dominated by Quidditch and the upcoming match to be played next Sunday. 

--

I sat patiently on my bed as Hermione tried yet another spell to get rid of my new hair color. 

"Honestly, Jo, I'm not having much luck with this," she informed me as she went searching for another spell book from her bag. 

"Just try your best," I replied, pulling at a chunk of my multicolored hair. 

"Okay, I'm going to give it one more shot but if this doesn't work I don't know what will," Hermione said as she flipped open to a page in the book she had been looking for. She tapped my head with her wand and muttered the spell under her breath. 

"Any luck?" I asked. I heard the book close with a snap and Hermione sighed.

"Sorry, that didn't work either."  

"This is ridiculous!" I groaned, falling back onto my mattress and letting my head hand off the edge of my bed.

"Why don't you just ask Fred or George to change it back for you?" an upside down Hermione (at least from my pint of view she was upside down) asked, placing her hands on her hips as she frowned slightly. I was about to answer when Katie Bell entered the dorm. 

"What's this I hear about Fred and George?" she asked, closing the door behind her and walking over to sit on the bed next to me. I just pointed at my hair and left it at that. 

"Jo doesn't want to ask Fred or George to change her hair back so she asked for my help but I've exhausted every spell I know trying to get rid of the color and it hasn't worked," Hermione explained to Katie who smiled sympathetically at me. "So the way I see it," Hermione continued, "she has no choice but to ask for their help if she wants her normal hair color back." 

"But I don't want to do that because then it means they've won," I stated, moving so that I was once again sitting upright on the bed. Having all the blood rush to my head before was making me feel sick. 

"Won what?" Hermione asked as she put her spell books away. 

"I don't know," I sighed, "but whatever it is they would have won." 

"I don't think Fred and George are smart enough to think up a spell Hermione can't figure out," Katie said suddenly, "Maybe you're taking the wrong approach to things?" 

"Possibly," Hermione said as she lifted her book bag up onto her shoulder, "but if we take that approach there are hundreds of spells they could have used. I'll stick by what I said before, the quick fix solution here is to just go ask the twins." 

"Yeah, whatever," I grumbled under my breath before returning my voice to it's normal level, "thanks for the help Hermione. I'll see you tomorrow." 

"No problem. Goodnight," Hermione said as she slipped out of the dorm and closed the door quietly. So my hair wasn't back to normal just yet but Katie's suggestion had been a good one, I might have to think that idea over for a couple of days. 

"What are you going to do now?" Katie asked. 

"Shower and then sleep," I answered, "We have classes tomorrow and I want to make sure I get an early night." 

"I think that's a good idea," Katie laughed as we both grabbed our pajamas and headed off to the showers.


	6. Did You Paint Your Nails?

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

**Chapter 6: Did You Paint Your Nails?**

The school year had officially started and already the teachers were piling on the homework like there was no tomorrow. Homework didn't really bother me normally but I also had to juggle Quidditch this week and knowing Wood I wouldn't have a spare minute this afternoon with a practice planned. 

It was the last class of the day and it just happened to be History of Magic, a class I shared with Katie. With only ten minutes of the class remaining I think everyone's attention had been completely lost and I based this assumption on the fact that half the class was sleeping and the other half either staring aimlessly out the windows or chatting quietly. 

"Are you coming down to watch practice?" I asked Katie quietly. I guess I spoke quietly during class out of habit, I could have yelled the question and Professor Binns wouldn't have even twitched. 

"Huh?" Katie asked groggily as she lifted her head off the desk. "Oh, you mean Quidditch. Yeah, I'll come down for a while."  

"Great," I said just as the class finished and our fellow students all rushed to get back to their common rooms so they could relax for a couple of hours before dinner. Katie and I were the last two leave the classroom, preferring not to get trampled by our peers as they left. We walked quietly down the halls, each of us caught up in our own thoughts. Eventually we made it to the common room where Katie started up a new conversation. 

"Any luck with your hair?" She asked as we made our way up the girl's dormitory stairs. Damn, I had forgotten about my hair. I wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

"No but I do have an idea," I replied as we stepped into our dorm. I left Katie sitting on her bed as I disappeared into our small bathroom, closed the door a stood in front of the mirror. Katie's comment from the other night had got me thinking, what if it wasn't what we thought it was. That statement, I found, roughly translated to the meaning of illusion that in turn had me wondering what if the purple-orange hair was just that, an illusion. Don't ask me how I figured it out, all I know is that it's worth it to try some anti-illusion spells. 

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, muttering the most common anti-illusion spell I knew and prayed it would work as I tapped my wand on the top of my head. I took a moment before opening my eyes and taking in my appearance, after which I ran out of the bathroom and tackled Katie in a joyous hug. 

"Whoa, calm down," she laughed as I let go of her and took a few steps back. 

"What's different?" I asked as I did a little spin for her to be able to take in my whole appearance. 

"Oh gosh I don't know," she smiled as I put on a fake frown, "Did you paint your nails? Get new robes?" She was just with messing with me now and I threw a playful insult at her. 

"Gee Katie, I never realized you were so observant," I said placing my hands on my hips as I tried not to smile. I wasn't doing a very good job. 

"You fixed your hair," she said finally and I let the smile I was trying to hold back spread across my face. 

"Yes, I have finally, without the help of the Weasley twins I might add, fixed my hair," I announced proudly, twirling a bit of my now brown hair around my finger fondly. "Take that Weasley twins!" I yelled as I retrieved my broomstick out from under my bed and went to drag Katie out of the room with me but something she said stopped me in my tracks. 

"Now I guess you guys are even." 

I paused and turned to face Katie, the smile on my face dropping into a look of concentration. She was right, you can't win a war on equal scores. Looked like I was going to have to change that aspect of things. I was smiling somewhat evilly as I grabbed Katie's wrist and pulled her out of the dorm so we could head down to the Quidditch pitch but she was staring at me with a slightly worried look. 

"What are you planning?" she asked. 

"Nothing yet," I laughed, "But I promise you that before the week is out I will be one up on the Weasley twins in this war!" 

--

We'd been out on the Quidditch pitch for just over two hours now, Wood making sure he worked us until we were half dead. Things were okay so far if you ignored the fact that I had become the twins personal bludger target. 

"Alright," Wood called as Angelina scored her tenth goal of the evening, "A five minute break before we start practicing again. Make the most of it." He tossed the quaffle to me as he flew past on his way to the ground of the pitch, probably to note something else down on this piece of parchment he brought with him and had been writing on every half hour since we started training. 

As I hovered in the air on my broom, tossing the quaffle back and forth between my hands, Harry flew down to rest next to me. 

"How's it going?" I asked as he ran a hand through his wind-messed hair. 

"Alright," he commented, "I've managed to catch the snitch seven times in the past two hours." 

"That's pretty good," I replied, stopping my throwing of the quaffle. 

"I know," he smiled proudly as I laughed. "I see your hair's back to normal," he added, "I'm guessing that's why Fred and George seem to have a vendetta against you." 

"Tell me about," I groaned, "I know we need to learn how to avoid bludgers but you think I would have proved that by-" The rest of my sentence was cut off by a loud yell. 

"Duck!" 

Both Harry and I ducked our heads just in time to avoid being knocked out by a bludger that was hit in our direction. Harry laughed and pointed out to the twins that we were having a break and would prefer not having flying projectiles hit towards us. I wasn't so forgiving since I'd had to put up with the behavior for much longer than he did. 

"Hey look who fixed their hair," one of the twins yelled as they flew past side by side. I threw the quaffle at his head, hard.  The grin on my face was hard to hide as the big red ball connected with the head of my target, causing him to veer to the side and almost knock his brother off his broom. Harry wasn't as discreet about his amusement, laughing out loud at the whole scene.  

--

We got in late that night. Cold and tired we trudged into the common room through the portrait hole, not surprised to find only two or three people not yet in bed. 

"Good job everyone," Wood said as he slipped into the common room, the last of us to enter, "If you play that well this weekend Ravenclaw won't stand a chance." 

There were a few mumbled words in response to his optimistic statements before everyone parted at the dormitory stairs, the girls going one way and the boys the other. Unfortunately I had different plans to the rest of the team. While walking back through the castle on our way from the Quidditch pitch to the common room I had remembered a piece of homework I had forgotten to do earlier and so, while everyone else clambered into bed, I was collecting my parchment, ink, quills and books to take back down the common room. I wasn't too worried about getting the small assignment done. It was for potions but all we had to do was write out a foot and a half of parchment detailing the properties of the new ingredients we were going to encounter next lesson, it would take me a half hour tops. 

I came down from my room and sat down in one of the many spare chairs around the still flickering fire. I set all my things down on the table in front of me, opened my potions book and began writing.

I couldn't remember exactly when I had fallen asleep but knew I must have at some point otherwise I wouldn't be waking up with my head resting on the table next to a piece of parchment I had been writing on. I lifted my head up and looked around the room, noting that there was no one around anymore and that the fire had died down to glowing embers. I sat back in my chair and yawned, rubbing at my eyes with my hand. What a day, I was so tired I managed to fall asleep in the middle of writing an essay. I could truthfully say that was a first for me. 

It was while I was sitting there contemplating my sleeping habits that I was struck with the most fantastic idea for revenge. Suddenly much more awake I glanced at my watch, noting the time was ten past one. Perfect, now I just needed to decided on what spell to use.


	7. This is War

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

_Author Note:  
__Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, I love you guys and this chapter is for you._

**Chapter 7: This Is War**

Unknown to most my peers was the fact that I knew how to pull off a good prank. Sure, it wasn't something I did often and even if I was really into it I'm pretty sure no one at the school could reach the level of pranking the Weasley twins were currently at and it was stupid to try. You see, what I was about to attempt was beyond crazy and that was to try and pull a prank on the prank masters. 

After thinking up the ingenious plan I had grabbed my notebook and began flicking through the pages covered in my messy handwriting. At the beginning of my first year I had decided it would be usefully to have a book of personalized spells, things that I found really useful or just entertaining. It had come in handy a lot, much to my surprise. Anyway, at the back of this little book was a section dedicated to prank spells, most that I had made up myself and the rest picked up from other students. In the four years I had been at Hogwarts I had managed to make quite the collection and after skimming through the spells found one that would be perfect for what I wanted to do. 

After reading over the instructions twice, just to make sure I would get it right, I picked up my wand and headed towards the stairs that lead up to the boy's dormitories. I had butterflies attacking each other in my stomach as a walked quietly up the stairs, passing the fourth year boy's dorm before finally reaching the room I wanted. I pressed my ear to the door and, after no sounds but someone's loud snoring reached my ears, pushed it open gently. I peered through the small gap between the door and doorway just to make sure all the occupants of the dorm were sleeping before I slipped inside and closed the door behind me.  It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness but once they had it was easy to make out the two red headed figures sleeping soundly in their beds. A sly grin spread across my face as I walked over to the two beds and crouched down beside the one closest to the door. If it weren't for the spell book that lay open on the bedside table clearly labeled 'George Weasley' I wouldn't have known who was who. It was a pity George looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, it almost made me feel guilty about what I was going to do. The feeling soon passed when I remembered what had happened to my hair. Okay yeah, I was _defiantly_ holding a grudge but I hated it when people got the better of me and was going to show these twins that others could play this little game of theirs. 

I muttered the spell quietly as I waved the wand over his face and knew I had been successful when his eyebrows slowly began to grow and turn bright pink. Perfect, by the time he woke up tomorrow morning it would like someone had stuck two pink fluffy caterpillars where his eyebrows should be but there was no time to celebrate just yet, I still had another spell to cast. 

I stood up from my crouched position and walked over to the next bed where Fred was sleeping curled up on his side and facing away from me. I was about to utter the spell once again when he began to stir and I quickly clamped my mouth shut. Luckily he didn't wake up and I let out a breath I didn't even realize I had been holding. I had opened my mouth to start the spell for a second time but didn't even get the chance to start speaking when Fred moved once again, turning to lay on his back and flinging his arm out. Unfortunately I was in the way and the back of his hand hit me in the side of the face, just below my right eye. 

I stifled any sound I was about to make by shoving my fist in my mouth and waiting to see if it would wake him up. It didn't and I wasted no time performing the spell and getting out of the dorm before I was caught. As I closed the door and began walking down the staircase I rubbed gingerly at the side of my face and just hoped it wouldn't bruise.

--

Despite the time I had retired to bed I was up early the next morning, ready to see just how successful my master plan was. Earlier I had met up with Eric and, after an explanation about why I had a nasty colored bruise under my eye, convinced him to spread a rumor concerning the Weasley twins and the state of their eyebrows. The plan was that with the spreading rumor the common room would be full of people by the time Fred and George got up and therefore making the situation all the more amusing for me and embarrassing for them. Mind you, I was banking on the chance they didn't notice their eyebrows before they came down.

Soon enough I heard the sound of someone walking down the steps and the whole common room went quiet, faces turned towards the stairs. When one of the twins finally appeared there was a beat where everyone just stared before bursting out into laughter, much to the surprise of the twin. Things just got better from there.

"Fred, what are you doing?" George said as he reached the bottom of the stairs to find his brother just standing there while the common room started up another round of laughter at the sight of George.

"Nothing, they just started laughing when I got to the bottom of the stairs," Fred said, turning to face George.

"I think I can see why mate, you're eyebrows are pink!" George said while starting to laugh.

"I wouldn't laugh, yours are the same!"

"What! Did you-"

"I didn't do anything!"

I didn't hear what else was said as they raced back up the dormitory stairs, I was to busy laughing along with the rest of the common room who had witnessed the event. 

--

They next few moths were crazy as the war continued. The pranks escalated as time went on becoming bigger, more frequent and more embarrassing. By now the whole of Gryffindor knew what was going on and spent their nights in the common room waiting for the next prank to happen. 

For example, one night I had been sitting with Harry, Ron and Hermione around the fire, chatting casually and finishing off some work that was due in the next day. I had run out of ink half way through my transfiguration assignment and pulled my shoulder bag off the floor and up onto my lap where I reached into it carelessly, as I always did, to find my spare inkbottle. 

When my hand had come into contact with something big, hairy and moving I had squealed and thrown the bag away from me. It then landed on Ron, who was sitting across from where I was, just as a huge black spider, probably the size of my face if I recall correctly, crawled out onto his lap. 

Ron had spent the rest of the evening refusing to leave his dorm while Fred and George spent at least the next half hour laughing in the corner of the common room. 

The next day during dinner I had not hesitated to transfigure their food into worms, just as they took a mouthful of it too. 

So the war went on, not one of us managing to gain the upper hand until one Saturday afternoon in the castle halls. 

It was a couple of days after the Sirius Black scare and I had been spending time with Luna out by the Black Lake. The teachers had been reluctant to let students outside but had given in eventually and so most the student body had taken the opportunity to get out and about. While outside I had been reading while Luna searched for some creature that lived in the water, or on top of it, or something similar. I had gotten distracted half way through her explanation. Anyway, it had started to rain and I took this as my queue to leave. After a quick goodbye I had hurried back to the castle before I got to wet. 

While I walked back to the common room I opened my book and began reading once again, trusting myself to get to the seventh floor without much hassle. It probably _would_ have been a nice hassle-less walk if I hadn't run into the twins.  

--

"What 'ya reading?" one of them asked as he snatched the book out of my hands. I was startled at first, having not noticed them until they were standing right in front of me, but this quickly gave way to annoyance. 

"Can I have my book back?" I asked while I made a grab for it but Fred, or George, I didn't really care then, just held it out of my reach. 

"I don't think so," said the twin who wasn't holding the book, "you've caused us a lot of trouble lately." 

"I could say the same for you," I commented, turning to face the twin who spoke. 

"Oh, I guess you can," he smiled, "But I still don't appreciate eating a mouthful of worms." 

I smiled also but it was anything but friendly, "Okay, you've had your fun now give me back my book, please."

I had turned back to the book holding twin and held out my hand expectantly. 

"No." 

My unfriendly smile turned into a scowl as I pulled out my wand and pointed it at the twin. "You asked for it," was my only warning as I went to cast my spell but was hit by someone else's. I had forgot about the other twin, which is pretty stupid considering twin means one of two. Two people, remember to have reinforcements next time.

"Expelliarmus!" he yelled, the spell hitting me with enough force to send me stumbling into book holding twin. This would have been all right if he wasn't standing on the edge of a staircase but, you know, he was. 

"Watch out George!" the twin behind me yelled as I fell into book holding twin, who I now knew was George, but the warning came a little to late as my weight sent us both tumbling down the stairs.


	8. Twins Are Confusing

I smiled also but it was anything but friendly, "Okay, you've had your fun now give me back my book, please

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

_Author Note:  
It's been a while since the last update but finally chapter 8 is complete. Another important note is that I have gone through and re-written the previous 7 chapters to fix things like spelling mistakes and add in suggestions from reviewers. Enjoy chapter 8!_

**Chapter 8: Twins Are Confusing**

_My unfriendly smile turned into a scowl as I pulled out my wand and pointed it at the twin. "You asked for it," was my only warning as I went to cast my spell but was hit by someone else's. I had forgot about the other twin._

_"Expelliarmus!" he yelled, the spell hitting me with enough force to send me stumbling into book holding twin. This would have been all right if he wasn't standing on the edge of a staircase but, you know, he was._

_"Watch out George!" the twin behind me yelled as a fell into book holding twin, who I now knew was George, but the warning came a little to late as my weight sent us both tumbling down the stairs._

I can tell you now that falling down stairs, especially the hard stone stairs that Hogwarts favors, is not fun. For the record, it's rather painful. It didn't help that George landed on top of me when we got to the bottom, knocking all the breath from my lungs. Ouch.

"You better not have killed her, George!" Fred called as he jogged down the stairs after us, "You'll have a hard time explaining that one to mum."

"_I_ better not have killed her?" George said as he clambered off me, "You were the idiot who cast the spell. If anything it's your fault!"

"She was about to hex you. Would rather I just stood back and did nothing?"

I was still lying on the ground while this was happening. It's kind of hard to move after falling down some stairs and then having a Weasley twin fall on top of you. This didn't stop me from laughing at their argument though. Actually, you can't really call it laughing. I still hadn't quite got my breath back so it ended up more like a coughing fit, kind of embarrassing as it caught the attention of both the twins.

Fred and George turned to stare at me with looks on their faces that suggested they had forgotten I was there at all. George was the first to come to his senses and held out a hand to help me up.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. That was a first.

"Fine," I replied, grabbing his hand as he helped me stand upright once again, "Just a little bit sore."

"I'd be sore too if fatty landed on me," Fred added, with a sly grin.

I tried to hide my smile as George glared at his brother and the phrase 'if looks could kill' popped into my head.

"Well," I said after a long, awkward silence, "I guess I'm going to head back to the common room."

"Wait a minute," George said just as I had begun to walk back up the stairs. I turned back to the twins to find George holding out my book.

"You uh, dropped this."

"Thanks," I said with a soft laugh, taking the book out of his hands and holding it tightly.

Another minute of silence followed while we stared at our feet, or the walls, or the ceiling, or, well… I think you get the idea; we were looking anywhere but at each other. You know, for two loud mouth pranksters they really didn't have much to say. In the end I decided to relieve everyone's suffering and say something.

"Truce?" I held out a hand and waited to see what they would do.

"Truce," they said simultaneously, shaking my hand one after the other to seal the deal.

--

"So you're no longer 'at war'?" Katie asked as we left our dorm, headed for the Great Hall and the dinner that was waiting for our arrival.

"That would be correct," I replied as Eric jogged up to my side and we exchanged quick greetings.

"So you're friends now?" she pressed, clambering out the portrait hole that Eric was holding open for us.

"I wouldn't say that but… well, we're not trying to kill each other anymore."

"Yeah, Fred and George we're telling me about that earlier," Eric piped up, "They said you fell down some stairs-"

I slapped a hand over Eric's mouth while Katie just raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't tell me that!" she laughed.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone," I said, "Besides, George fell down the stairs too and that was only because Fred hit me with a spell. Honestly, it's not like they have anything to brag about."

I took my hand off Eric's mouth and he began snickering.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you," I warned, "Because if you tell anyone else about falling down the stairs I'll hex you into next week."

That shut him up.

"Aww, lighten up Jo," Katie said, still laughing as we walked into the Great Hall. It seemed that we'd hit the dinner rush, as most the house tables were crowded with students. Despite this there was still a spare bit of bench saved especially for us.

"Katie! Jo!" Alicia called when she saw us walk into the hall, "Over here!" She pointed at a spare space next to her and we hurried over. Eric left to go sit with some of his first year friends.

It wasn't until I had sat down did I realize who exactly I was sitting across from. Take a guess, I dare you.

"Joanna," the twins said at the same time, "We've been expecting you."

"Shut up!" I snorted, throwing a spoon at them. I didn't hit either of them but that wasn't a surprise. If I meant to hurt them I would have thrown the knife.

"What's going on here?" Angelina asked suspiciously, shuffling closer to Fred, or was it George? No, I'm pretty sure it was Fred, we all knew she had a thing for him. Wait, maybe it was George she liked? Damn, twins were confusing.

"What?" both the twins and I said together. This caused her to narrow her eyes slightly.

"Alright, spill it. I thought you guys hated each other, what exactly happened to change that?"

Katie was smiling now, trying to disguise the fact that she knew exactly what happened by shoveling a huge amount of food into her mouth. It wasn't really working.

"Well you see," Fred began, slinging an arm around Angelina, "There was this stair case and-"

This time the fork I threw only missed by a centimeter or two and he was quick to shut his mouth.

"What happened," I began loudly, daring the twins to argue, "was that we decided to overcome our differences. It's not a very interesting story, just a lot of talking and apologies and such. You wouldn't really want us to go into details, right, Fred and George…?"

"Yeah, really boring," George said quickly.

"Not interesting at all," Fred agreed.

"See?" I smiled as Katie chocked on her laughter, or was it the mashed potatoes? I couldn't tell.


	9. Strong Dislike?

**Hate Is A Really Strong Word**

_Author Note:  
__So after a long time the last chapter is finally up. I hope you've all enjoyed it, maybe a sequel coming soon? A big thank you to all my readers and reviewers, this last chapter is for you._

**Chapter 9: Strong Dislike?**

So the year passed and before I knew it we had only a day left before our departure from the great castle that was Hogwarts. I felt like only yesterday I was walking through main doors on the first day of my fourth year. Well, time flies when you're having fun and fun was exactly what my year had been after the Weasley twins and I had gotten over our 'differences'.

I wouldn't admit it but I was going to miss them over the holidays.

"What are you thinking about?" Eric asked, drawing me out of my thoughts and back into the loud, crowded Great Hall. It was the end of year feast and just like the start of year feast Eric and I were sitting quietly together at the end of the table. I nice way to conclude the year I'd say.

"Nothing much," I replied, pushing my half finished desert around on my plate with a fork, "As glad as I am to be finished school for the year I'm going to miss having all my friends around every day."

"Does that include me?" he asked and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Of course it does, if I didn't consider you a friend I would have ditched you long ago!"

Now it was his turn to laugh.

"No, really," I insisted, "You're like a little brother to me, minus all the annoying stuff you get with younger brothers."

"Thanks," he replied as I took a mouthful of my desert, "I like to think of you as an older sister too and as much as I'd like to say 'minus the bitchiness', I can't."

I nearly spat out my mouthful of food I was laughing so much.

"I'm such a bad influence on you," I sighed once I was over my laughing fit, "Your parents would kill me if they ever met me, for turning their son into a little devil child."

"Oh don't worry, they already think I'm a devil child."

"Lovely."

--

"Are you going to come visit these holidays?" Luna asked as we made our way back from changing out of our robes, shuffling past people in the small train corridor.

"Sure, were you planning on doing anything?" I asked but I had a feeling I already knew what the answer would be.

"No, not particularly. I just like the company."

This brought a smile to my face, "I'll owl you when I'm free then. You know I love visiting."

We'd just reached our compartment when I heard someone yelling my name down the corridor.

"Oi! Winters!"

I glanced back down the corridor and caught sight of one of the twins, head stuck out of his compartment and beckoning me over.

"Give me a minute," I called back, stepping into my compartment and shoving my robes into my trunk.

"Who was that?" Eric asked from his seat near the window.

"Fred, I think. I still can't tell them apart half the time."

"Be careful," he warned, a smile on his face as he turned back to the window.

"Okay…" I said, giving him a weird look, "I'll be back in a moment."

I slipped out of the compartment and closed the door behind me before heading back up the corridor towards the twins' compartment. When I got there I wasn't surprised to see them and Lee talking animatedly about something or other. I opened the door and stepped inside.

"You called?" I asked, just before another balloon of slime landed on my head.

I froze as the three boys burst out in laughter, Eric's warning finally made sense and I wondered if he had prior knowledge to the prank.

I rolled my eyes and scooped up a handful of the slim off my hair, this time it was yellow and red. "I hate you Fred and George Weasley!" I laughed, throwing some decent sized globs of goo at the pair.

"Hate is a really strong word," Fred said, sounding like he was giving me a lecture.

"How about 'strong dislike'?" George suggested as I flicked some of the slime at Lee who was still laughing.

"No, no, I'm pretty sure hate is he word I'm looking for," I snickered, leaning against the doorway as the train began to slow.

"You're coming to visit this summer," Fred said.

"Do I get a say in the matter?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," they said at the same time and I just chuckled.

"What if I already have plans?"

"Not our problem," George said, "Besides, mum would love to meet you. She's always complaining about the company we keep, no offense Lee, so it would help our reputation if we invited over a nice mannered girl once in while."

"I don't think anything could help your reputation," I snorted, pulling out my wand and clearing the compartment of all red and yellow slime. I made sure to check my hair and was relieved to see it was still brown.

"You'll think about it though, dropping by?" Fred asked as I turned to the leave the compartment.

"Promise," I said over my shoulder, "Have a good holiday."

I left the compartment just as the train pulled into the station and I marveled at the difference in my relationship with the Weasley twins compared to the start of the year when I would have done anything to avoid them.

Well, you can't predict everything and I'm rather glad I didn't predict this, as it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.

_THE END_


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